1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to flexible bags. More specifically, the invention relates to a hunter's storage bag for game. The invention is a portable game, fowl, and fish storage bag, particularly useful for storing, transporting and preserving meat quarters and parts of the meat after harvesting, field dressing and butchering into manageable portions. The bag is sized to house fish or harvested game animal and fowl portions.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Hunters and fishermen face the problem of protecting and preserving their game, as well as keeping their game safe and sanitary. In addition, hunters often face a difficult task in transporting large game from the field to the camp and then to a final destination. A game bag is an aide to protecting and transporting game. While still in the field, the hunter can reduce a large kill to quarters or to whatever reduction the hunter desires. The smaller portions can be stored in game bags and more conveniently carried to the camp.
A standard game bag is made of cotton canvas or a similar, strong but inexpensive fabric. Manufacturing game bags from inexpensive fabrics has practicality because the game bags might have a short life due to use in hard conditions, soaking up blood, and otherwise becoming damaged and contaminated. However, such game bags present inherent problems in use. Fabrics like canvas retain moisture, stain easily, and tend to shrink. The inadequate properties of game bags made of heavy cotton canvas drive the need for an improved game bag of new design with different material properties.
Common canvas game bags are well known for strength but equally well known for inability to dry out. The type of cotton canvas that is used in such bags is known to stay wet for hours. It is crucial for a game bag to dry or at least to substantially reduce its retained moisture so that the meat stored in the bag can remain edible for a long period of time. Wet cotton readily will allow bacteria to grow, thus leading to rapid spoilage, inevitably rendering the meat inedible.
The weight of cotton canvas is approximately ten times that of certain synthetic fabrics. Retained weight from moisture or blood is undesirable because it adds difficulty in handling and transportation. The retained weight can increase transportation expense under current air transport weight restrictions. In the field, the retained weight is a disadvantage because it adds to the weight of the hunter's pack. Cotton fabric used in canvas is also known to shrink, as this is a natural property of the cotton. In addition, cotton is known for its stain retaining abilities. It would be desirable for a game bag to avoid retaining weight and to minimize any tendency to stain, retain moisture, or shrink.
Keeping the game sanitary is important because the ultimate purpose of the harvest is for human consumption. In the field, after a game animal is harvested or the fish is caught, it is gutted, and cleaned. Then the game is stored by covering the surface with cloth. The game can be inserted into a game bag, which serves to cover the game during storage, or the game can be wrapped in cheesecloth. The cloth bag or other fabric enclosure must be breathable, but without being so permeable as to allow insects to contact the meat and to lay their eggs on it or to contaminate the meat with urine, feces, dirt, and debris. It would be desirable to have a suitable game bag that meets these requirements while enabling the hunter or fisherman to transport the bag with its meat content from the field to the butcher and home.
In many hunting situations, the game must be stored in camp for the duration of the hunting trip. This may be a period of several days and nights. Wherever predators are located, and especially in bear and wolf country, the stored meat presents a special danger because it attracts the predators. Hunters try to anticipate such danger by hanging the game, perhaps in a game bag, at a distance from camp. However, even with the game stored at a distance, the hunter faces danger because he does not know when a predator will be present. A hunter may pass near the stored game when leaving from or returning to camp, or simply when he is moving about the area at night without considering that he is near the stored game.
In some states, the law provides that game meat should not be wasted. Such a mandate can be interpreted to mean that the hunter should protect the harvested game from contaminants and predators. Hunters often check on the stored game during the night to defend it against the possibility that a predator is claiming the game bag and its contents. Even a hunter who is considering that a predator might be present can be surprised. It would be desirable for a game bag to help alert the hunter when a predator is present.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the method and apparatus of this invention may comprise the following.